New Year's Eve

Last night, on 'new year's eve, eve,' I had a Bridget Jone's moment. A desire to clear everything out and start fresh. Followed by a realisation that my life is far from perfect and my attempts to try to make it better will not ever go as planned. Just to jog your memory, here are Bridget's resolutions at the start of the film...

Bridget Jone's Diary Script

... and those that have seen the film will know exactly how all of that went for her! Nevertheless, she had goals and hopes and, most importantly, she was real with herself when things didn't go to plan and she changed her resolutions accordingly throughout the film. I don't do 'resolutions' at the start of each year. I begin each year with an 'adventure list'. I'll add and change the adventure list throughout the year because what are adventures worth if some of them aren't spontaneous! But today I do want to be sorting things out. Talking to friends, spending time with my family, tidying and sorting my room, looking through old memories, and welcoming in the new year! There aren't many days in the year that I get to feel like the determined Bridget Jone's at the start of her film. So here it goes... See you on the other side, Amy xo

Disability is not inability.

Background from Google. Words added.

This is what the world says: To be   b l i n d   means you can't   s e e. To be   d e a f   means you can't   h e a r. To be   m u t e   means you can't   t a l k. To be   p a r a l y s e d   means you can't   m o v e.
This is what I see: L i s t e n   up; being   b l i n d  brings super powers. S e e,  being   d e a f   brings super powers. D a n c e   in celebration; being   m u t e   brings super powers. S h o u t   it out; being   p a r a l y s e d   brings super powers. Some of these super powers have been scientifically proven, some are observations and ramblings. Those who are blind have heightened senses: touch, sound. This is much the same for those who are deaf: with greater sight, smell. Those who are paralysed can shout and do great things. Those who are mute can dance while others sing.
We. Must. Stop. Focussing. On. Our. Limitations. Although there is a big help in rehabilitation, we still need to see the good in every situation.
All of our super powers are different. I'm talking about those who can draw, those who can paint, those who can talk, those who can listen, those who can sing, those who can dance, those who can count, those who we can count on, those who... We can all create. We can all love.
Love yourself.
You're amazing.
You are doing amazing things.
You're achievements and goals are good, they don't compare to the aspirations of other people because they shouldn't be the same. You are not the same. No one is the same.
Realise that everyone is unique. See the good in each of your friends and celebrate milestones with them!
Speak truth. Do not curse a deaf person or put a stumbling block in front of the blind. Instead lift them up and rise with them.
In the same way we shouldn't dismiss young people for their age, let's not cast out old people either.
Take heart, have courage... He's living in you. - Dave Miller

Picture: Google. Lyrics: Dave Miller, Vineyard UK

Here's to living out a Kingdom life of love and encouragement,
Amy xo

Ref: Leviticus 19:14, Psalm 71:9

Ready For Mexico? ¡No manches!

Just 7 full days until we leave for the airport! Wow, that's come around so quickly. Once we've survived a 13 hour flight, or thereabouts, we will be travelling by coach from LAX (Yes, that's right, LA!!!) to San Diego, California. Excited doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling right now. When we arrive at the hotel we'll get pizza and then we'll be straight to bed, exhausted and running on pure adrenalin. Energy rruussshhh. Early the next morning I'll have a team meeting of sorts with the rest of the youth leaders and then we'll have some hotel breakfast. A time for us to fill up before we reach the campsite. Our next mountain to climb on the list at this point is crossing the border to MEXICO.
Once over, we'll travel to the campsite and set up camp. Over the next 5 or 6 days we will be waking up early for breakfast each morning, praying together, travelling to the build site, and building a house from the foundations to the roof. There are 5 build groups so we will be building 5 houses in 5 days. There will be the opportunity each day for a few youth and leaders to work with the local kids in a kids club run by ourselves. An amazing opportunity this will be to interact with the locals! At the very end of the build we will have dinner with the family who we have built a house for, we will hand over the keys and pray together, and possibly celebrate with a festival of sorts. Yay! When we travel back over the border to San Diego we get a couple of days to process what we've just seen. We're also going to be just a 20 minute drive away from an amazing revival which is happening right now in California! Glory! Okay, overly excitable and badly written post, over. Amy xo P.s. the title translates in Mexican slang to - "Ready For Mexico? No way!"

What's Orange and Tastes Like an Orange?

An Orange. And the church, of course. Well, perhaps the church doesn't taste like an orange unless you choose fruit over doughnuts in the coffee break or it's a Christingle service. But one thing is for sure: The church should look orange. I'm not talking about a congregation of Oompa Loopmas...

Image Source: Google

I'm talking about a balance of love and light. Y e l l o w represents the light from the church and r e d represents the love from the church. Orange is a mixture of these two colours. The church should look orange. "Two combined influences make a greater impact than just one influence. Church and family on the same page." In the same way that light and love combined makes a greater influence, so does the combination of church and family. Where the church helps to influence whilst the family can influence even more during everyday life. Here are some claims: 1. "Nothing is more important than a person's relationship with God" 2. "No one has more potential to influence a child's relationship with God than the parent" - This is about an "every day faith kind of concept" not just "a Christian on a Sunday morning" 3. "No one has more potential to influence the parent than the church"
Here are some figures: 86% of parents believe they are responsible for their spiritual development of their child. This figure included secular parents. Over 90% of all parents believe that they have responsibility for their child's moral beliefs. 1 of 5 parents said the church did anything to help them be parents. Wow. Take a moment to begin to process the potential you can unlock by investing some time into the parents too. Willy Wonka Condescending memes are known for being really condescending...

Image Source: Google

There's an element of truth in the thought that what parents teach children about their spirituality and their relationship with Jesus will stick with them for a life time. I don't like the term 'religion' but I can appreciate the value that time investment from parents can really shape a child's spiritual development. So, as a church, how are we helping parents? How are we helping them to be more involved and engaged in the child's spiritual relationship? When we engage with a child on a Sunday morning and send them home with a craft that the parent/guardian can talk about with them, we are helping God-centred conversations to go on at home. When we pray with the children on a Sunday morning, and ask them if they need prayer for anything, we are encouraging them to ask for help from a leader, or a parent/guardian, in the form of prayer. These examples are just small ripples in comparison to the big waves of impact that we could make if we invested some of our time into the parents, who in turn have 3000 hours a year to invest into their own children. IMPACT

How To Cover Your Child in Prayer

"If you determine to circle your children in prayer, you will shape their destinies... your prayers will live on in their lives long after you die" - Matt Batterson. Read the full article here. So prayer is one weapon that we can encourage parents to use to shape the spiritual lives of their child. Prayer with the child is important too. It sends a reminder to the children to do this with their children as they get older. "The churches potential to help the child dramatically increases when you help the parent" The majority of parents do not spend any time during the week teaching spiritually. God gave this responsibility to parents as something for them to do. They have the skills. "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" - Proverbs 22:6 "Make the things I'm commanding you today part of who you are. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you're sitting together at home and when you're walking together down the road. Make them the last thing you talk about before you go to bed and the first thing you talk about the next morning."  - Deuteronomy 6:6-7 "... so that God's people may be up to the task ahead and have all they need to accomplish every good work." - 2 Timothy 3:17 Get every parent to do something more than what they're already doing. Look at parents through a different filter: 1) They want a plan/system that will help them know how to pass on the information to their children 2) Give them models for these plans 3) They want to know what they can do right now, today, tomorrow. What's next? So, we need to, as church leaders: Help parents to know that they are qualified.  Parents wouldn't disregard their child's need for help on homework because they've not got a teaching qualification. They wouldn't stop helping the children take their medication because they're not a doctor. Church can help them to feel qualified.  Believe that they are spiritual leaders to their children. If the church believes that they can be spiritual leaders to their kids then they will start to believe it too. Invest time into helping parents with plans and ideas. The more suggestions we give, and help we provide the parents with, the more equipped they will feel to be a spiritual leader to their child. This has thrown a few ideas into the mix for me which I'm still processing. Ideas about a parent-child Sunday where each child group meets in a different room but with their parents present so that we can learn together about being spiritual at home. It's important for parents to see their child on a Sunday morning and vice-versa. So that both the parent and the child can be open about their own spirituality and, therefore, begin to support each other at home. It's not until I was much older that my mum and I began having conversations about spiritual things that I remembered because I came home and asked big questions. Perhaps if my mum had been encouraged more when I was younger we would have drawn alongside each other spiritually at an earlier time.  One way that this 'drawing closer spiritually' could be done is a simple addition to a normal routine. When a child creates something, such as a painting or sculpture, to ask the child what they think God is saying to them through that picture. To explore together what message of encouragement it holds.

Image Source: Google

Podcast Information: OrangeBlogs - Orange Leaders 40.3000 Amy xo

When Life's a Mess... Just Be

Let's get real here. The photo looks pretty because it's got fairy lights in it and I framed it well. The bed isn't made but looks comfortable and inviting. The shelves aren't organised but hide in the shadows. And my floor, well you can't see it in the picture, but you sure can't see it in real life either. There are clothes everywhere. A mess. But with the right lighting, The Perfect Light, it's a somewhat beautiful mess, wouldn't you agree?

When Life's a Mess... Just Be

Seriously, just be. Just be. Sit and be you. Stand and be you. Lie down and be you. Just be.

There's something so special about taking the time to slow down and just be you with God, Jesus, Daddy. This is where I choose to do just that (see above image). Mostly because it's really rather convenient to have my quiet place where I already go to rest every single night.

Life is a mess, always. Fact. Even when it seems perfect on every level, there is an underlying mess just waiting to be discovered. Those people you think have it all together? They don't have it sussed out. Life isn't about perfection, it's about embracing the mess.

Image Source: Google

A rainbow is one of the most beautiful things that God ever created! It's colourful, it's random, it's huge. It serves as a constant reminder that, because scientifically rainbows form when the sun hits the rain, when light shines through the rough times something beautiful is formed. 

You are God's project and your messy life is one of a kind. It's unique mess. It's beautiful mess. But His light makes a rainbow in your mess.

Acknowledging that we are made for messy lives and taking the time to sit and just be is so powerful. Every single being has access to an insanely awesome God. A wonderful counsellor! A prince! A miracle-worker! A creator! A father! A friend! An enjoyment so indescribable comes from being with Him. Like with, with. In a relationship with. A relationship that is never battered and bruised by sin and wrongdoing on our behalf. Thank you, Jesus!

'You raise me up so I can stand on mountains, You raise me up to walk on stormy seas, I am strong when I am on Your shoulders, You raise me up to more than I can be'

//Westlife//

Tonight I had my circle. A circle is a part of my church that is where relationship and personal support happens. Sundays can be so busy and daunting that having a group of people to grow with is so important! In other churches it might be called a cell group. If you're currently involved in a church, or similar organisation, but not an active member of a circle/cell group, I encourage you to be! It was tonight at circle that I was able to piece together some of the thoughts that formed this post.

Amy xo

New Beginnings

Afternoon! Some of you may know that I'll be starting an internship with a local church this year. The church is not one that I am currently a member at but one which I will be working with for a year to gain experience within a church and work on my relationship with God at the same time.  This year has been a busy one for me and a crazy journey with God. I sung true the words 'Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters wherever you would call me, take me deeper than my feet could ever wander and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Saviour'. And God certainly gave me so many opportunities this year to put my trust in Him. It's been so exciting! And it's far from over.  One thing that I hope to write about soon is Fortify. An event God called myself and 3 friends to put together with the help of many for which we are so grateful. The youth and adults that attended this event have had such close experiences with God that many of their lives have been changed! Our God is an awesome God!  From now on I should be posting a little more often. As part of my intern year I will be watching podcasts and reading books. Both of which I will be reviewing. So in addition to some life-style posts I'll be writing a bit about the inspiring things I've been reading and watching. Today I went out to choose a diary and journal which mum and dad kindly bought me as a 'welcome to work' present. I was very excited to write my first few meetings into the diary and I'm looking forward to writing about my first day on Tuesday.  My first day at my internship also coincides with the day I'm planning to release my videos about Human Trafficking onto YouTube. Unfortunately I will only be able to post one of the videos because the other video has too many kids in whom I do not have permission from their parents to release to the public. However, the video I am releasing is still one to get excited about. It's a very deep video with an important message; it's addressing an issue I feel Christians and non-Christians alike should be working to reduce. That's all for now, See ya soon and God bless, Amy My new diary and journal... :)

MEXICO!!

An opportunity that I haven't posted about as of yet is that myself, and a group from my church (comprised of 4 youth and 2 other leaders), are planning to head out to Mexico next march (2016). The group will be spending 10 days in Mexico building a home for a family without a house. Have a look at a video from a youth group that have visited recently to take part in ReBuild 2015.

We've set up a blog to keep everyone updated. If you fancy finding out a bit more visit the blog here: WBC Youth go to Mexico